TITAN – An Interactive Web-based Platform for Transportation Data InTegration and ANalytics

The Missouri Department of Transportation regularly collects and stores various types of data for different uses such as planning, traffic operations, design, and construction. These large datasets contain treasure troves of information that could be fused and mined, but the size and complexity of data mining requires the use of advanced tools such as Big Data Analytics, machine learning, and cluster computing. TITAN is an initial prototype of an interactive web-based platform developed to demonstrate the possibilities of using big data software. This project succeeded in showing a user-friendly front end that was graphical in nature and a scalable back end that was capable of integrating multiple big databases with no latency. Several applications were shown, including mobility, safety, integrated safety and mobility, detectors, and predictive crash analytics. Because TITAN was shown to be feasible and efficient, the next step is to deploy TITAN to assist MoDOT staff in various data-driven decision-making processes.

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Report number: cmr 19-006
Published: May 2019
Project number: TR201815
Authors: Carlos Sun (P.I.), Praveen Edara (co-P.I.) and Yaw Adu-Gyamfi (co-P.I.)
Performing organization: University of Missouri-Columbia

Field Implementation and Monitoring of Behavior of Economical and Crack-Free High-Performance Concrete for Pavement and Transportation Infrastructure Constructions – Phase II

Economical and crack-free high-performance concrete (Eco-HPC) is a new class of environmentally friendly and cost-effective high-performance concrete (HPC) that is made of low binder content, high volume of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), and shrinkage mitigating materials. The initial phase of research that involved an extensive laboratory investigation indicated that the designed Eco-HPC can secure high resistance to shrinkage cracking, and high strength and durability. The aim of this project was to validate findings of the previous research via field implementation and develop guidelines for the use of Eco-HPC for sustainable transportation infrastructure construction. Two classes of Eco-HPCs were developed for field demonstrations: Eco-Pave-Crete made for pavement construction and Eco-Bridge-Crete for bridge construction.  Compared to the MoDOT reference mixture, the optimized Eco-HPC mixtures developed for pavement and bridge applications exhibited approximately 40% lower embodied energy and 55% lower global warming potentials. The use of the proposed Eco-HPC mixtures could lead to reductions of about 4.7% of agency costs and 17.3% of the total life-cycle cost for bridge deck construction and 3.2% of agency cost and 6.2% of the total life-cycle cost for pavement construction in high traffic conditions.

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Report number: cmr 19-004
Published: March 2019
Project number: TR201703
Authors: Kamal H. Khayat (P.I.), Iman Mehdipour and Zemei Wu
Performing organization: Missouri University of Science & Technology

Field Implementation of High-Volume Recycled Materials for Sustainable Pavement Construction

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of producing sustainable concrete materials for rigid pavement construction using high volume of recycled materials. The goal was to replace 50% of all solid materials in the concrete with recycled materials and industrial by-products. This included the replacement of cement with at least 50% supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and aggregate with 50% recycled concrete aggregate (RCA). Nine optimized mixtures from the first phase of the project that exhibited satisfactory performance were selected for the construction of single layer and two-lift rigid pavement systems. Life cycle cost assessment indicated that sustainable concrete with optimal SCMs and RCA can lead to cost savings of 17.6% of agency costs, 12.1% of user cost, 12.1% of social cost, and 17.5% of total life cycle cost. The development of a database and analysis using artificial intelligence was performed to quantify the properties of concrete as a function of RCA characteristics. Test results obtained through the case study indicated that the reduction in the modulus of elasticity (MOE) of pavement concrete can be limited to 10% when the coarse RCA has a water absorption lower than 2.5%, Los Angeles (LA) abrasion less than 23%, or oven dry specific gravity higher than 156 lb/ft3 (2500 kg/m3) for concrete made with 100% RCA replacement rate. The water absorption, specific gravity, and LA abrasion mass loss of RCA were found to categorize the RCA quality and resulting engineering properties of concrete made with RCA. The selection of RCA with a lower water absorption and LA abrasion mass loss and a higher oven dry specific gravity corresponded to a higher quality of RCA that can produce concrete with greater mechanical properties.

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Report number: cmr 19-005
Published: March 2019
Project number: TR201702
Authors: Kamal H. Khayat, P.I. and Seyedhamed Sadati
Performing organization: Missouri University of Science & Technology

Roller Compacted Concrete for Rapid Pavement Construction

The main objective of this research was to develop high-performance Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) with enhanced solid skeleton to secure greater workability, mechanical properties, and frost durability. The study involved the development of a stepwise mixture design methodology to select aggregate proportioning and particle-size distribution of combined aggregates that can secure high packing density and lead to enhanced performance.RCC mixtures with high packing density of aggregate combination and suitable fresh and hardened properties were used to introduce air-entraining agent (AEA) at different dosages. The effect of binder content, AEA dosage, workability level, adjusted by varying the water-to-solid ratio, mixer type, and compaction energy on RCC performance was evaluated.

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Report number: cmr19-003
Published: February 2019
Project number: TR201518
Authors: Kamal H. Khayat, P.I., Nicolas Ali Libre, co-P.I. and Zemei Wu
Performing organization: Missouri University of Science & Technology

Performance Characteristics of Modern Recycled Asphalt Mixes in Missouri, Including Ground Tire Rubber, Recycled Roofing Shingles, and Rejuvenators

A comprehensive lab and field investigation was carried out to evaluate the performance of recycled asphalt mixtures in Missouri by researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia, in collaboration with the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Midwest Transportation Center.  Sixteen field sections were evaluated, including a number of sections from the recent Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP), Special Pavement Sections (SPS-10) project in Osage, Beach, MO, which was constructed in 2016. Binder testing and mix performance tests were carried out on field cores and laboratory compacted specimens.  Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) Missouri’s practices for the responsible and effective use of recycled materials is sound, and continues to improve over time - recent mix designs demonstrate more appropriate balancing between recycled material levels and virgin binder selection, resulting in better performance tests results when compared to older recycled mix designs; (2) Opportunities exist for further improving recycled mix design methods and recycling optimization in Missouri, including (a) Moving to higher ABR levels, by implementing mixture performance tests (balanced mix design); (b) Increasing the use of recycled ground tire rubber (GTR) in Missouri mixes, by using balanced mix design to certify mixes using new, more economical GTR recycling methods, and; (c) Researching the use of recycled materials in stone-mastic-asphalt (SMA) designs. It is recommended to further evaluate and fine-tune mix performance tests for use in balanced mix design, which is particularly important for modern, heterogeneous recycled mixes.

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Report number: cmr19-002
Published: January 2019
Project number: TR201712
Authors: William G. Buttlar, Jim Meister, Behnam Jahangiri and Hamed Majidifard
Performing organization: University of Missouri-Columbia

Field Implementation of Super-Workable Fiber-Reinforced Concrete for Infrastructure Construction

A fiber-reinforced super-workable concrete (FR-SWC) made with 0.5% micro-macro steel fibers and 5% CaO-based expansive agent was used for the new deck slab of Bridge A8509. The selected FR-SWC had a targeted slump flow of 20 in. at the casting location. Multiple trial batches were performed, in collaboration with the concrete supplier, to adjust the mixture composition to meet the targeted performance criteria. This was followed up by casting the fibrous concrete in a mock-up slab measuring 10 x 10 ft that was prepared to simulate the tight rebar and the roadway crown slope in the transverse direction. The results indicated the necessity to lower the concrete slump from the intended value for FR-SWC to hold the 2% crown slope of the bridge deck in the transverse direction. The final mixture that was selected following the trial batches and mock-up placement had a slump consistency of 8 plus or minus 2 in. (FRC). Six sensor towers were installed in the slab within 18 ft to the East and West sides of the intermediate bent to monitor in-situ properties of the concrete. Each tower had three humidity sensors, three thermocouples, and 12 concrete strain gauges. The slump values varied between 6 and 10 in. Slump values were around 8.5 in. The fresh air volume ranged from 4.4% to 5.8%, and the concrete temperature ranged from 85 to 97 degrees F. At 56 days, the compressive strength ranged from 7,020 to 8,360 psi and had a mean value of 7,770 psi. Data up to 260 days are reported at the time of the preparation of this report.

A strain model was proposed to evaluate the strain data collected from the embedded sensors. The model represents the total strain as a summation of strains due to thermal deformation, drying and autogenous shrinkage, and structural deformation. The model was used to evaluate strains and estimate values of the concrete shrinkage during the first 30-36 hours, which corresponded to the time of demolding of the shrinkage samples as well as the load distribution factor between the concrete slab and the steel corrugated sheet that varied with concrete age. Findings indicated that the load distribution factor increased with concrete age reaching a value of 0.98 at 260 days. The concrete shrinkage during the first 30-36 hours was then estimated to be 75 micro-strain.

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Report number: cmr19-001
Published: January 2019
Project number: TR201705
Authors: Kamal Khayat and Ahmed Abdelrazik
Performing organization: Missouri University of Science & Technology